Iron ore price retreats as China seeks to cool rally

The iron ore price retreated on Monday after last week’s rally that sent the steelmaking ingredient to its highest in more than five months, as traders fretted over warnings from China’s regulators against recent unusual price moves.

China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange has also announced an increase in the transaction fee for iron ore futures contracts for February to May deliveries in a move to cool down the rally.

According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $148.20 a tonne during morning trading, down 0.7% compared to Friday’s closing.

The most-traded Dalian iron ore contract for May delivery ended daytime trading 6.8% lower at 776.50 yuan ($122.07) a tonne, after falling as much as 8.6% to 761.50 yuan, its weakest since January 27.

The National Development and Reform Commission said on Friday teams would be dispatched to the commodity exchange and major ports to look into iron ore inventories and trading in spot and futures markets. 

It also warned information providers against fabricating prices amid a rapid rise over the past five weeks.

“We are entering what might be an incredibly volatile period for iron ore, given that the bull narrative is pushing the market higher while it is intermittently pegged back by Chinese government rhetoric,” said Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities in Singapore.